I call these "Summit Stones".....
After gathering these small rocks for many years, while out on adventures, I now splash a bit of paint on them, after 'Mixing In' very special elements with the colors. Then I give these stones back...
The musings here are simply about the wonders of adventure and inspiration. It's all about the importance of giving back and passing forward.....

Thursday, April 14, 2016

"Oh, To Muse Then Journal So..."

Early on in Outward Bound, in later years during multi-day treks, and still now when wandering the waters I take out a small moisture resistant ditty bag, and uncover yet another small journal.

Those blank pages have always seemed inviting to me.

Like the tide, I never know just what will turn up. I often wonder what unknowns, what sorts of secrets will appear through these written musings.

Mapping our journeys in this way through the use of a personal adventure journal has many, many benefits.

There is a real potency in the simple use out there of pencil and paper.

Seemingly simple words can resonate with an energy; much as any warm campfire...

There are many styles of journal writing we can utilize when wandering: Writing backwards is great for the memory; while writing forwards is a powerful enhancement to ideas about future adventures and our commitment towards them.

Our memories can be sieve like at times; but the written word, even drawings and symbols representing our experiences, are not. There is no perfect format to follow; no index to use. Any individual style is really up to you. Often many of us will include other items along with our words: Souvenirs, memento's, and drawings all can be symbols that remind us and tell stories from out there in ways that words alone may not speak to.

Such a record, in a personal journal, is not a map we purchase and follow, but one we create as we actually go along...

After years of use, it becomes such a familiar piece of gear.

Many times the dreams of where we want to go next out there are from a cherished awareness of where we each have been.

Such an adventure journal can, over time, become a treasure for each of us, as valuable as any of the other essentials. Most keep such writing to themselves although I recall a shared journal we also used on Outward Bound with very fond memories.

The endowment of words you map for yourself in this way Dear Finders, will become a journey in itself, and a wild place legacy like no other..... DSD

"To muse: to ponder; reflect upon. In Greek & Roman Mythology, muses were the daughters of zeus; inspirers of effort, music & poetry"

"THE ACID TEST OF A TRUE ADVENTURER, IF PRESENTED WITH CERTAIN ANONYMITY, IS WHETHER EACH OF US WOULD STILL HAVE MADE THE JOURNEY BEYOND THE LAST BLUE MOUNTAIN..." M. Clark

"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight... it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of memory, and old tales, of the high and distant mountains" J.Tolkien

"We are all in some sense, mountaineers, and going to the wilderness is going home" J.Muir

"Do you know what these elements are? What they mean? These elements of fire, water, wind, earth, and metals? Do you realize that you are elemental too?" Grandfather, Mountain Elder

"A LIFE LIST, IS IN THE END, NOTHING MORE THAN A TOOL TO LOOK BACK ON OUR LIVES AND CONSIDER HOW WE SPENT OUR BRIEF MOMENTS ON EARTH. AND WHAT IF, IN THOSE FINAL BREATHS, YOU REALIZE - I NEVER GAVE ANYTHING BACK..." J.B. MACKINNON

"PEOPLE WHO SEEK ADVENTURE ARE TRUE POETS OF LIVING..." ANON

"Adventure does give you a chance to come to terms with yourself. What you find out about yourself just comes as a gift" D.Scott

"You went up that mountain one person, and have come down a very different being" Grandfather, Mountain Elder

"By walking out alone into the wilderness... I can after a while begin to see and to hear and to think and in the end to feel with a new and exciting accuracy" C.Fletcher

"Two voices are there; one is of the sea, one is of the mountains" Wordsworth

"The narrow ribbon between land and ocean is a perfect place to understand the mind of wisdom" Deng Ming-dao

"There will be a day when you will climb to a place where the mountain and the sky merge" Grey Wolf

"IF YOU TAKE THAT STONE, YOU MUST GIVE SOMETHING BACK..." GREY WOLF

"The Latin word 'finis' has two meanings: the end or finish, and a goal to reach" V.Frankl